{"id":47131,"date":"2025-11-28T21:03:07","date_gmt":"2025-11-28T21:03:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/47131\/"},"modified":"2025-11-28T21:03:07","modified_gmt":"2025-11-28T21:03:07","slug":"man-accused-of-double-voting-in-2020-election-says-trump-pardon-applies-to-him","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/47131\/","title":{"rendered":"Man accused of double voting in 2020 election says Trump pardon applies to him"},"content":{"rendered":"

This article is made possible through Spotlight PA\u2019s<\/a> collaboration with Votebeat<\/a>, a nonpartisan news organization covering local election administration and voting. Sign up for Votebeat\u2019s free newsletters here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A man charged with voting twice in the 2020 election has adopted a novel legal argument: that he\u2019s covered by the pardon that President Donald Trump granted<\/a> to allies who attempted to reverse his 2020 election loss.<\/p>\n

Federal prosecutors charged Matthew Laiss of Bethlehem in September<\/a> with double voting in the November 2020 election. The U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania alleged that Laiss moved from Pennsylvania to Florida in August of that year and voted both in person in Florida and via mail ballot in Bucks County. Both votes were allegedly for Trump.<\/p>\n

Early this month, Trump issued a pardon<\/a> to 77 people, including members of his legal team and the so-called fake electors, for their conduct in connection with the 2020 election. However, the pardon proclamation was written broadly, saying in part that Trump was granting \u201ca full, complete, and unconditional pardon to all United States citizens\u201d for conduct related to the 2020 election.<\/p>\n

Laiss\u2019 attorney argued in a motion to dismiss filed last week<\/a> that the \u201cplain language\u201d of the pardon meant it extended to Laiss.<\/p>\n

Beyond that, the motion cited \u201cthe unequivocal absurdity of the notion that individuals like John Eastman, Rudolph Giuliani, Mark Meadows, and Sidney Powell \u2026 are explicitly pardoned for their exponentially more egregious alleged conduct, while a then-26-year-old man who cast two votes for President Trump in the general election is not.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTo read the Pardon Proclamation to intend such an outcome would be outrageous, particularly in light of its sweeping language,\u201d Laiss\u2019s attorney argued.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for the U.S. attorney declined to comment. The White House Press office did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n

Legal scholars warned when Trump issued the pardon that the broad language could have unintended consequences for the administration.<\/p>\n

Justin Levitt, a professor at Loyola Law School in California and a former Justice Department official, said he wasn\u2019t surprised to see a defendant making this argument.<\/p>\n

The pardon was so broad and poorly written, Levitt argued, that it could conceivably apply not just to the allies Trump intended to pardon, but also to people accused of voting illegally in 2020, like Laiss, and to election officials Trump has implied should face prosecution<\/a> for \u201ccheating.\u201d<\/p>\n

The caveat is that the pardon applies only to federal crimes, and election-related crimes are generally prosecuted at the state or local level.<\/p>\n

There are other federal cases that may be covered by the pardon. Earlier this year, a Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, man pleaded guilty<\/a> to multiple counts of election law offenses, one of which occurred during the 2020 election.<\/p>\n

Derek Muller, an election law professor at Notre Dame Law School who first noted Laiss\u2019s motion on the Election Law Blog<\/a>, said it makes sense that Trump issued a broadly worded pardon, given that his allies\u2019 conduct in 2020 and early 2021 spanned a long time frame, crossed multiple states, and involved many individuals. Typically, pardons are tailored to specific people or circumstances.<\/p>\n

Even when former President Joe Biden issued broadly worded pardons to his son and members of Congress who served on the committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, Muller said, he narrowly tailored the pardons to specific people.<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s pardon \u201cdoes name individuals, but it does speak to anyone, and it also speaks to a wide range of conduct,\u201d Muller said. \u201cIt\u2019s a little sloppier language. With that broad of language, it allows for unintended consequences.\u201d<\/p>\n

The U.S. attorney\u2019s office has until Friday to respond to the motion. Ultimately, it will be up to the judge in the case to decide if the pardon applies, Muller said.<\/p>\n

Carter Walker is a reporter for Votebeat in partnership with Spotlight PA. Contact Carter at cwalker@votebeat.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n

BEFORE YOU GO\u2026 If you learned something from this article, pay it forward and contribute to Spotlight PA at spotlightpa.org\/donate<\/a>. Spotlight PA is funded by foundations and readers like you<\/a> who are committed to accountability journalism that gets results.<\/p>\n

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